The threshold household income where a family can afford housing, healthcare, childcare, and transportation without relying on means-tested benefits is a lot higher than the official stats suggest.
The threshold household income where a family can afford housing, healthcare, childcare, and transportation without relying on means-tested benefits is a lot higher than the official stats suggest.
When my youngest son was born we were barely making it and looked into getting benefits.
We were told we were disqualified for around $500 a month of various benefits (housing, food, etc) because I made $50/month too much.
The eligibility cliffs are a rough place to be yeah. Even when you don’t immediately lose the entire benefit you get screwed but my Gods do you get screwed when it’s just “Nope, you make too much money. You get nothing.”
Having to be very careful about pay ranges for jobs you pick up because there’s a big glaring red zone where you lose a bunch of benefits without making enough money to replace them. That raise you just got? That was actually a pay cut nerd. Have fun.